While we continued eating at the dining table, a messenger appeared and notified me and my mother, "Duchess, the Duke will be extending his time in exploiting the vast forest of Eldia." Is what he said.
"Oh dear, why all of a sudden?" Alexandra asked."It seems that the monster beasts are currently expanding their territory. That is why the Duke himself would be venturing into the forest along with his knights in order to ascertain that the Dukedom would not experience another incident such as before."An incident? Did something happen before?""Okay, tell the Duke to be careful and notify him that me and his son are waiting for his triumphant return." Alexandra said.I was curious about what the messenger said, but I can't ask my mother directly since I'm sure she'll be making up excuses again."The messenger then left the room and went straight towards the Duke's location, while my mother and I got up from the table after finishing our meals."Axel, Make sure to wear a cute outfit, okay?" She said and winked beautifully."Okay mother."Acting cutesy wasn't really my forte, but since it'd be weird for me to act all mature, I must endure this until I become an adult."Reaching fifteen years of age in this world would finally make everyone acknowledge you as an adult. At least that's what's written in the books I've read.There's still eight years left for me to wait, until I can act a bit differently and leave the cutesy aside."Then I went back to my room and meditated. Cultivating my mana core was my final option since my skill was a bit odd.Well, based on the books I've read, increasing your mana core's level would also increase your skill's prowess.I just hope that my skill will get stronger after I reach a certain stage in my mana core level."Since I'm still in the beginner stage, my skill is undoubtedly weak. I hope that those things I've read in the books aren't baseless presumptions.As I meditated, flashing specks of light started appearing around me while I used the mana manipulation technique and contained the mana I gathered within my mana core.Manipulating the mana particles around me was slowly getting easier, but it differed in the distance of the mana that surrounded me.After containing specks of mana particles, my mana core slowly withered in its bland color and slowly turned dark blueish.It's a good sign though, since advancing to the next stage changes your mana core's color."As per Nanny's words, the beginner stage had a bland white color, the intermediate stage was ocean blue, the advanced stage was bright orange, the master stage was neon red, and lastly, the supreme stage had an ominous darkish violet color.Nanny Helena was stuck at the bottleneck of the intermediate stage, since gathering mana after reaching greater heights becomes harder.Well, it was still commendable for a nanny to have reached the intermediate stage at its final leap and even acquire an A-rank combat-suited skill.She's truly outstanding."After all, I'm sure she wasn't just my nanny. My father must have placed her beside me and had her act as a guard when danger arose.Seeing how young she was, as well as her excellent facial features, I was pretty sure she was still in her mid-twenties.What am I thinking right now? I should focus on gathering more mana."Time passed, and I continued manipulating the mana around me. I could slowly feel my mana core change. It was an astonishing feeling, as if I were being enveloped with grace that made my entire body feel relaxed and rejuvenated.The bland color slowly withered and changed into a dark blue.That's when I realized, I've finally achieved the intermediate stage!"My body felt light all of a sudden after I excitedly got up from my bed."Is this the effect of reaching the intermediate stage?" I uttered while my lips couldn't help but smile.But the relaxing sensation I felt instantly vanished after my body started hurting all over.*Thump!* It's as if every beat of my heart hurts. My entire body hurts like hell.*Thump!* *Thud!*I fell to the floor. Sweats came pouring out profusely from my body, while I felt unbearable aching all over my insides.The pain lasted until I slowly lost consciousness and fainted."---Master!""Young Master!""Young Master!!!"I could hear Nanny's voice. Why is she shouting....""Young master, please wake up!"Ugh, my body hurts... Why does it hurt, and what is this smell? It's so stinky...""Young master!!!" Helena repeatedly yelled worriedly, while she kept on shaking my shoulders, and my body was covered with black, stinky mucus."Nanny, my body hurts.""Young master! Thank God for your okay!" She said with teary eyes.My body felt sticky, as if I were covered in stinky mud. And the pain was still attached; I could gently feel the pain whenever I tried to move my body."Young master," Helena said as she tried to wipe off the tears in her eyes. "Congratulations! You've entered the intermediate stage at such a young age! I'm certainly happy for you!" She said and smiled brightly in front of me.I sat down on the floor and saw black stains all over the carpet. "What is all of this, Nanny? Why does my body ache, and why do I smell so bad?" I asked while covering my nose.Nanny Helena then explained, "This is called cleansing. Once you've broken through the intermediate stage, your mana core will instantly cleanse your entire body, removing all the dirty mana that's stuck in your mana veins. This also reforms your entire body. That explains the ache you're currently feeling right now, young master."Oh, cleansing, huh.. I've heard about this back in my previous world. There was a Murim manhwa I read that explained about cleansing one's body entirely after reaching a certain cultivation level.I guess I could think of this phenomenon as that. Well anyways... looking at my body right now, I feel a bit muscular."..........Axel slowly took off his white clothing covered in black stains and noticed that his entire body had truly been reformed.His old, weak, and fragile body instantly changed into a well-built one.As if he had been doing workouts for several years."What the heck!?" Axel yelled shockingly, completely fazed by the changes in his body."Goodness, young master, Look how sexy you've become." Helena said and blushed embarrassingly.Damn, is this girl a shotacon?" Axel wondered.Anyways, I need to clean myself. My body smells like horse feces." He pondered while smelling his armpits.Axel immediately got up while enduring the achiness and went towards the bathroom to clean himself up entirely.And while he rested inside the bathtub, he slowly felt refreshed as the aches slowly disappeared.Hmm, now that I'm finally in the intermediate stage, did my skill also improve?" Axel wondered."String release," he uttered while he raised his left hand with an open palm.A single thread of string instantly came out of his hand and grew longer. The control over the string was starting to feel a bit light, and Axel finally believed that increasing your mana core's level can really help you improve your skills capabilities.Manipulating the string back and forth became easy for Axel, as he smiled brightly after doing it a bunch of times."Skill status." He mumbled quietly.*Skill: String Manipulator, Skill Rank: E, Skill Type: Growth, Sub Skill Acquired: String Absorption*"Sub Skill?" He uttered while staring intently at his skill status window.This time, Axel could not handle the gladness and relief he had suddenly felt. The anxiety of having an E-rank skill instantly vanished after seeing his skill status."Fuck." was all he could say due to the overwhelming excitement he was currently feeling.Chapter End.His emerald hair brightened as he walked towards the border entrance of the forest. His dignified posture and calm demeanor were truly extravagant sights to behold. His silver-plate armor shone when struck by sunlight, while his golden, luxurious sword was beautifully placed on his waist inside a blemish-free scabbard.Every step he took was filled with utmost awareness and unwavering confidence as they entered the Forest of Eldia."Duke!" A messenger appeared while gasping for air."What is it, Halmuth?" Damian asked."The message you've ordered has finally been delivered. The duchess and the young master are waiting for your triumphant return."The seriousness in Damian's eyes, the composed demeanor he had, and his dignified posture instantly disappeared after hearing the messenger's delightful words."Really? Well, it can't be helped then~ all men! We shall finish this task quickly and return victorious!" Damian yelled out loud.The knights who saw their Duke's change of personality
I immediately got dressed after my mother called for me. As for the research of my skill absorption, I put it on halt since I'm about to head out with my mother and attend a ball within our dukedom's territory.My mother wore a bright emerald dress with several gems intact in it, while I wore a red long-sleeved tunic coat with a black linear-layered undervest.The white carriage was awaiting our arrival outside the gate of our household. A man wearing a gray flat hat and decently dressed in white classic attire held the horse's ropes tightly in front of the carriage.Several servants from our household formed two straight lines on both sides as they all greeted us, "Safe travels, Duchess, Young Master." When we passed through them at the gate.My mother and I elegantly went inside the carriage, and the door was gently closed by one of the servants.Then our departure gradually occurred after the carriage slowly left our household............"Mother, where's the ball being held?" Ax
A young boy was standing in front of me with an arrogant expression. While it got me thinking...Who is this blatantly ignorant side character?""What are you looking at?" The young boy spoke in an arrogant tone, gazing at Axel."Well, I just wanted to apologize for bumping into you. And I got quite intrigued by your hair color." Axel responded."What? My hair color? You also see me as a weirdo?" The young boy spoke with an angry demeanor."What? I didn't mean it in a bad way. I'll be taking my leave." Axel slowly turned around and took a few steps away from the weird young boy.Before Axel could get further away, the young boy suddenly grabbed Axel's shoulder and uttered in a demanding tone, "Wait."Axel immediately turned around and asked, "What is it?""Your hair is also weird. You know that, right?" He said with a disgusted look in his face.What the hell is wrong with this kid!?""Okay, thanks." Axel said and frowned in front of him.Ugh, this is why I don't like meeting other peo
"Why does she keep pestering us?""I don't even want to talk to you, Ellie.""Yeah, no one among us likes you. With your pitiful personality, always looking like you're asking for sympathy makes me want to hurl.""Just leave us alone and don't ever approach us anymore, Ellie."Several noble kids then left after spouting rude words at the trembling girl.Ellie Glaus, the girl who was being ridiculed so badly.She was also the younger sibling of Emmanuel Glaus, who was undoubtedly the center of attention.Due to Ellie's E-rank skill, her family solely focused their attention on their eldest son and slowly forgot about their youngest daughter."Why does everyone hate me?" Ellie mumbled in her head.Her eyes started shaking, slowly tearing up due to the hurtful words she received from the Noble kids.In spite of her excellent facial features and rose-colored silky long hair, her personality was a bit broken.Due to the influence that surrounded her, being mistreated repeatedly, and being c
It has already been several days since we returned from the ball we attended.I've been continuously doing some research about my skill's potential.Once thought to be an utterly useless skill, it is now starting to bloom in a more positive way..........I've done several experiments in the past few days, and I finally learned that I could not materialize living organisms. And the word "anything" only works on non-living things.But there's a new subskill I learned that lets me control living beings with less mana than me, based on my presumptions.It is the subskill I recently acquired called "String Marionette," which grants me control over living beings that have less mana than me.The string becomes invisible after the string marionette is successfully attached to the specific target.But it also consumes my mana rapidly; I can only manage to use it for less than ten minutes in my current state. And the control over the string marionette skill was totally tiring since it requires
Time flew by quickly, and winter was fast approaching.In the vicinity of Turk, several men were gathering firewood, while some people were seen all over the place, chattering nonchalantly.People were already buying mana stones for their daily necessities. Since stores would always be closed after winter came due to the strong blizzard that the winter season brought along.The daily atmosphere started getting colder and colder as days passed by, while there were some rumors going around the city that several monster beasts were seen near the eastern borders of Turk. Slowly after that, the security around Turk began to increase.Meanwhile, I was still immersed in cultivating my mana core while being assisted by Nanny Helena.The more I found my skill interesting, the more I got motivated to increase the level of my mana core.Since my skill's duration relies on mana consumption.Therefore, mana training was my top priority.But as expected, the large mana consumption only worked on me.
The long, sunny atmosphere had finally vanished after the winter season came.We continued our daily activities at our household: breakfast, mana training, lunch, mana training, afternoon snack, skill training, dinner, and once again, mana training.This had become my daily routine. Then, in the evening, I'd secretly help Nanny Helena and Father with their mana training through mana tethering.But after my father brought me to his underground training facility, I started doing nightly training.An object called Mana Defense Intermediate, or M.D.I., was properly placed on the center wall of the underground training area.The M.D.I. is also powered by mana and has the ability to form an array of barriers that can defend and withstand even an S-Rank skill.Which is basically similar to a punching bag."Son, you can use that MDI to hone your control over your skill." Damian pointed at the Mana Defense Intermediate.I felt pretty glad since there was no place in the garden that I could use
After the knight called for me, I ran as fast as I could after hearing that monster beasts were seen in front of the forest's entrance.I've always known that monster beasts tend to be aggressive when the winter season arrives, since we've been handling such disturbances for the past several years.But after we saw that thing...That thing that slaughtered my knights viciously is what truly terrifies me.My old friend, Kai Heinz If it wasn't for him, we wouldn't have been able to return home safely.But right now, that same vicious thing, which Kai forcibly dragged away further deep in the forest of Eldia, is currently standing in front of me."A Monster Beast Salamander!""How in the world did it get here on the eastern side!?""It's an A-Rank monster beast! Get away!"A monster beast Salamander, Was a huge beast, taller than the trees, completely concealed in flames as it blazed through its body continuously.Threat level: A"Formation everyone! Water Elementalists, shoot that thing!
Draconian Knights viciously rushed towards Axel, surrounding him from all directions along with Mayu, who just got healed from her near-death experience.What's going on? Why are they all coming towards us?" Mayu wondered, confused, why the draconians were rushing towards their position.Axel stood and used his mana armament while tightly gripping his chained blades.Dalius instantly rained several swords coated in mana towards them, while Axel deflected the incoming swords simultaneously.*Clung!!!*Why...? Why is it so heavy!" Axel thought deeply while deflecting the swords that somehow overpowered him even with the boost of mana armament."Keke! A child is still a child, boy!" Dalius mumbled and laughed evilly.While Mayu suppressed the draconian knights with her ice skills, she completely created an ice barrier that had pointy edges and surrounded them with a certain radius.The Draconian Knights instantly halted their approach and took a few steps back, while Erza appeared in mid
Blood splattered after Gileyn stabbed Mayu's back while she lay dormant on the ground. Gileyn wore a mischievous grin on her face as her eyes shined, totally enjoying the scenery she was witnessing.While Almasin hurriedly rushed forward towards Gileyn with his mind completely blank, overwhelmed by rage after seeing her daughter getting stabbed from the back as her blood showered vividly, Almasin could only think of one thing. It was to murder Gileyn, who stabbed her precious daughter."Die!" As his claws came closer towards Gileyn, who stood off guard with her sword stuck on Mayu's back. Her smile showed hints of satisfaction, while Almasin was seeping with rage.As soon as his claws got closer to Gileyn's face, a shield barrier instantly blocked off his attack, pushing him back after the collision.Gileyn smirked, glancing towards Barto, who raised his hand towards her while facing Elder Beru.Garudo, on the other hand, was preparing; he gathered and circulated the mana inside him.
The Monster people stood in awe after witnessing the miraculous healing that Axel had shown.Healing mostly occurs over a longer period of time, depending on the wound's size. Especially a large and deep cut that Kibaki had would gradually take longer to heal, even with S-Rank healing skills."Um..."Why is everyone staring at me? I feel so embarrassed somehow." Axel pondered, Slightly showing an embarrassed expression.I never thought that a human child could possess such healing abilities. Even the Dog people who mostly acquired S-Rank Healing skills can't heal a wound as severe as Kibaki's in an instant." Almasin thought, staring intently at Axel."Please stop staring at him, everyone. He's a bit shy." Erza uttered.The monster people then started coughing and went their way, while Kibaki was still astonished after feeling regenerated from the pain he had been enduring."Um. Thank you." He mumbled.Erza then held Axel's shoulder and said, "He said thank you."Axel nodded and replie
After several hours passed, Axel and the others finally reached the center plains of the forest. The wind breezed as it welcomed their arrival. There was no one to be seen. Neither trees nor piles of rocks were seen on the vast central plains.Only tall grasses and mushed bushes were to be found in the vicinity of the entire center plains.Monster people immediately started building removable tents, while others lied on the ground, gasping heavily due to exhaustion.While those who still had the energy immediately mobilized themselves to secure the area.Axel and Erza were removing the silver platform they had used when they were approached by Elder Garudo."Hello, Thank you for helping us." Elder Garudo said politely, showing hints of gratitude in his voice."You are welcome, Elder... "Garudo, You can call me Garudo.""Oh, okay, Elder Garudo. This boy here cannot understand Laplace language, So if you want to tell him something, please pass it unto me." Erza said, Holding Axel's shou
Near the Center Plains, Azard's corpse is located.Demise, Barto, Gileyn, and Dalius stood in front of Azard's corpse. His body was slowly being connected to the ground. Vines were sticking through his skin while he was slowly being dragged into the soil.Demise trembled, showing hints of remorse in his wavering eyes. Azard was once known to be the hardest to kill due to having a unique deviant skill through which he could manifest his skill's elemental properties.But how come you still died like this...?" Demise pondered miserably, kneeling in front of Azard's corpse."Commander, we'll have to take a day to rest and replenish our mana. We've been flying for several hours continuously," Gileyn said."Barto, Dalius! Immediately bury Azard's corpse!" Demise said loudly while staring into the sky.Barto and Dalius nodded. They immediately followed Demise's orders and buried Azard's corpse in the same location where he was found."Whoever killed him, we will find them and kill them. Brea
He ran without suppression, breathing heavily while sweat dripped from his eyebrows, hinting at signs of exhaustion and fatigue. Running for several days straight without sleeping, and after a short period of rest, he must continue running again."Fuck, I feel tired." Douglas mumbled as his pace became slower due to exhaustion and being sleep deprived.Douglas knew that the beast people wouldn't bother unless they successfully reached their territory. Since Draconians won't carelessly act irrationally against the Beast people."So by any means, we must escape this forest in order to survive," Douglas murmured to himself, showing a distressful expression."Douglas! Wait up!"Douglas immediately stopped and turned around to check. There he saw Mayu, Almasin, Erza, and Axel running towards him.Huh? Why are they following me?" Douglas wondered, since he knew that Almasin wouldn't let her daughter go back to a dangerous place..........A few minutes earlier, Douglas left in a hurry."Pa
As both Axel and Erza ran with bright smiles on their faces, they unwillingly noticed that they were already outside of the forest's shade.In an open area, they stood, circling around with their heads held high, under the bright sun."We're finally out." Axel paused after seeing a man standing beyond them.Patiently standing firm in a dignified posture with his hands behind his back. His face was unclear; his silhouette was all they could see. While he exuded an aura of power and authority similar to that of a king."Who's that?" Axel asked.Erza shook her head softly and responded, "I don't know. He somehow looks like a beast man.""State your names!" The man yelled with a deepened voice, showing a hint of order."What did he say?" Axel asked, feeling dumbfounded by the man's overwhelming voice."He asked for our names," Erza whispered. "My name is Ezra, and this child is Axel." she stated in a loud tone.The man started walking towards them, only to be surprised after seeing Axel's
Two days had passed, and Mayu and Douglas had continuously run without hinting at exhaustion.We've been running for several days now. How much further could they have traveled?" Mayu pondered.I know that people who've reached the realm of the advanced stage are capable of acquiring a lot of stamina. With the help of mana, their capabilities are boosted. But seeing how their tracks are still freshly carved into the ground, I'm sure that not more than three days have passed. Especially their footprints resembled walking, just by seeing the distance of each mark they've left.Yet how come they're nowhere to be found? Could they've also been traveling at night? But a human child won't be able to travel nonstop without resting." Mayu pondered, showing a hint of curiosity."Hey, look at that," Douglas said after stopping Mayu.Mayu slowly raised her head, noticing the trees scorched to bits while burnt grass drenched the land."What happened here?" she mumbled."It seems that a huge fire
In which every step he took showed sophisticated confidence while showing an arrogant look on his face as he looked down on both Erza and Axel's existence with utter mockery.His entire body started emitting lava while steam seeped out from him, slowly making the coldness of the night succumb to hotness.Axel felt disregarded knowing that he wouldn't be able to land a hit on their opponent, knowing that only individuals capable of using mana coating can harm a skill user such as the Draconian Knight they're currently facing."Step back, young one; I'll handle this." Erza abruptly said while blocking Axel's front with her sword.Azard mischievously smiled while slowly burning the entire floor due to his lava dripping profusely with each step he took."Let's see how long you can last, you eight legged freak. Keke!" In that instance, Azard immediately rushed forward towards Erza, in which he appeared suddenly at Erza's front. Erza jumped back along with Axel, who put further distance bet